UK Premiere: The Old Bachelor

LBFF is thrilled to present the UK Premiere of Oktay Baraheni’s searing tragedy, The Old Bachelor. We bring the film to Riverside Studios having recently won Best Film at Rotterdam International Film Festival and Best Actor at TIFF.ro for Hasan Pourshirazi for his towering performance as the family patriarch that must be seen.

In an Iran weighed down by a struggling economy, two middle-aged brothers (Hamed Behdad, Mohammad Valizadegan) live with their bullying father (Hasan Pourshirazi). A man prone to rages and driven by chauvinism, the father’s abusiveness found his second wife leaving him. Now he picks on his eldest son, while the younger sibling fantasises about ways to kill his father. When the man rents out the flat above to a young woman (Leyla Hatami), with intentions of marrying her, the woman’s attraction to the older son slowly pushes this profoundly damaged family to breaking point. 

NB: Due to its extended runtime, the feature will begin at 7.30 following a short intro from the director.

“Oktay Baraheni’s superb second feature is a gripping domestic saga of bad blood and worse men.” Screen Daily

“Exploring powerful themes of patriarchy, misogyny, love, violence and tragedy, this film is a masterclass in storytelling, through its gripping, nuanced dialogue, exquisite attention to detail and its development of tension, which simmers throughout the film until it reaches boiling point in the final, explosive act,” Jury, Rotterdam International Film Festival